India women vs England women, 3rd T20I: How the action unfolded

The Indian women's cricket team slumped to a disappointing one-run defeat against England in the third and final T20I in Guwahati on Saturday.

The Indian women's cricket team slumped to a disappointing one-run defeat against in the third and final T20I as England completed a nail-biting 3-0 series whitewash at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Saturday. 

Opting to bat first, India restricted England to a lowly score of 119 for six in their stipulated 20 overs. Tammy Beaumont, who also shared a half-century stand with her opening partner Danielle Wyatt (24), was the highest scorer for the visitors with 29 runs. 

In reply, India almost pulled off the game with stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana's (58) quick-fire ninth T20I fifty. But Mandhana's departure proved to be a turning point for India as the hosts lost three wickets in quick succession-- two of them falling in the final over-- while veteran Mithali Raj (30) waged a lone battle from the other end.  

Here are the live updates: 

# India women lose 3rd T20I by one run, hand 3-0 win to England!  

# Wicket! Bharti Fulmali departs for five after Shrubsule took a simple catch off Cross' delivery in the final over. India 117/5 (19.4 overs)

#  India 111/4 (18 overs) 

# Wicket! Deepti Sharma was run out by Amy Jones of Cross' delivery. India require 22 runs from 24 balls. India 98/4 (16 overs)

# Deepti Sharma is the new batwoman in! 

# Wicket! Soon after bringing up her ninth half-century, Mandhana had to depart for 58 runs after being bowled out off Laura Marsh's delivery in the 13th over. India now need 33 runs from 43 balls. India 87/3 (13 overs)

# Mithali Raj comes to bat for India!

# Wicket! Soon after bringing up a half-century stand with Mandhana, Rodrigues made her way back to pavilion after scoring 11 runs. The Indian batwoman was caught leg before wicket off Smith's delivery in the 10th over. India 72/2 (10 overs)

# India 46/1 (7 overs)

# 22 runs off the last three overs, including three boundaries and a six. Rodrigues opened her account with a single off Cross' third delivery in the third over. India require 88 runs from 15 overs. India 32/1 (5 overs)

# Jemimah Rodrigues comes to bat for India! 

# Wicket! Shrubsole hands the breakthrough to England as early as in the second over. Harleen Deol (one) was caught by Winfield off Shrubsole's fifth delivery of the second over. The Women in Blue require another 110 runs from 18 overs. India 10/1 (2 overs)

# Harleen Deol and Smriti Mandhana to begin India's chase. Sciver will begin the proceedings for England.

# Innings Break! 

# England women set a 120-run target for India! 

# Anya Shrubsole is the new batswoman in! 

# Wicket! After scoring two boundaries off Deol's deliveries, Jones hit one over extra cover only to hand Shikha Pandey a simple catch. Jones made way back to pavilion after scoring 26. England 93/6 (17 overs)

# Amy Jones and Sophia Dunkley Brown are batting at the crease!

# Wicket! England in trouble now as they lost Knight and Lauren Winfield in quick successions. The England skipper was stumped by Taniya Bhatia off  Ekta Bisht's delivery. Winfield was caught by leg before wicket off Deol's delivery. England 82/5 (15 overs)

# England 73/3 (13 overs)

# Wicket! Beaumont failed to covert a good start to her innings into a big score as she was smartly stumped by Taniya Bhatia off Patil's delivery. England 54/3 (10 overs)

# Skipper Knight is the new batwoman in ! 

# Wicket! Poonam Yadav was brought into the attack and she delivered in her very first over by bowling out Sciver for a duck. England 52/2 (9 overs)

# Natalie Sciver comes to bat for England!

# Wicket! Anuja Patil gives a much-needed breakthrough to India. Wyatt was caught by Poonam Yadav off Patil's second delivery of the eighth over. With this, Wyatt and  Beaumont's half-century stand comes to an end. England 51/1 (8 overs)

# England 42/0 (6 overs)

# Runs are flowing in at a good pace for England. Shikha first bowled an expensive 12-run third over conceding three boundaries before Deepti gave away seven runs to the England batwomen. The Women in Blue desperately need to bag a wicket now. England 30/0 (4 overs)

# England made a decent start to their innings, adding 11 runs in the first two overs. While Wyatt and Beaumont get off the mark with a single in the first over, the former also pulled back the first six of the match in the second delivery from Deepti Sharma in the second over. England 11/0 (2 overs) 

# Danielle Wyatt and Tammy Beaumont have walked down the crease to begin England's innings. Shikha Pandey to open the proceedings for India. 

# Lineups: 

India Playing XI: Smriti Mandhana(c), Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Mithali Raj, Deepti Sharma, Bharati Fulmali, Taniya Bhatia(w), Anuja Patil, Shikha Pandey, Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav

India Women - Playing XI #INDvENG @Paytm #T20Series pic.twitter.com/Xu53j3Ceoi — BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) March 9, 2019

England Women (Playing XI): Danielle Wyatt, Tammy Beaumont(w), Amy Ellen Jones, Natalie Sciver, Heather Knight(c), Lauren Winfield, Laura Marsh, Sophia Dunkley Brown, Anya Shrubsole, Kate Cross, Linsey Smith

England Women - Playing XI #INDvENG @Paytm #T20Series pic.twitter.com/tJOL33dgcs — BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) March 9, 2019

# England women win the toss and elect to bat first in 3rd T20I against India!

England Women Won the Toss & elected to bat #INDvENG @Paytm #T20Series — BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) March 9, 2019

With pride at stake, India batswomen need to make amends for their below-par show as the hosts eye a consolation victory in the third and final T20 International against England here Saturday.

After winning the ODI series 2-1, Indian women lost momentum and subsequently conceded an unassailable 2-0 lead against England. 

The hosts endured a comprehensive 41-run defeat in series-opener before losing the second game by five wickets. The defeat in the second T20 was India's sixth in a row in the shortest format.

India have been doing well in the 50-over format but they have plenty to ponder about with the T20 format with World Cup scheduled for early next year. India have now suffered two back-to-back series defeats. Before losing to England at home India had lost their previous series in New Zealand 0-3.

In both games, whether chasing or batting first, India managed less than 120 runs, which is below-par against a top team like England.

Harmanpreet Kaur, the regular T20 captain, has not yet recovered from injury and stand-in skipper opener Smriti Mandhana failed to shine with the bat scoring 2 and 12 in the first and second T20 respectively.

Put in to bat, the Indian team cut a sorry figure to be restricted to 111 for eight in 20 overs.

India's top-order comprising Harleen Deol (14), Mandhana (12) and Jemimah Rodrigues (2) failed to live up to the expectations.

The middle order batters, led by veteran Mithali Raj (20), offered some resistance but were unable to capitalise on the starts. What hurt the Women in Blue most was the absence of power-hitting skipper Harmanpreet.

With such a paltry target (112) to defend the Indian bowlers bowled tight but could not pick wickets. Ekta Bisht (2/23) was the top-wicket taker. 
Poonam Yadav (1/18) and Deepti Sharma were economical (1/18) but couldn't keep the England batters at bay.

"I think our bowlers bowled well to limit them(England) and keep the competition close, another 10-15 runs from our batters it could have been a different result. They did a really good job, they delivered from their side," Mandhana said.

"But out batters need to step up give a good total for our bowlers to defend," Mandhana added.

Squads:

India: Smriti Mandhana (captain), Mithali Raj, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (wicketkeeper), Bharti Fulmali, Anuja Patil, Shikha Pandey, Komal Zanzad, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Veda Krishnamurty, Harleen Deol.

England: Heather Knight(c), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Sophia Dunkley Brown, Freya Davies, Georgia Elwiss, Amy Ellen Jones, Laura Marsh, Natalie Sciver, Anya Shrubsole, Linsey Smith, Lauren Winfield, Danielle Wyatt, Alex Hartley.

(With inputs from PTI)